Richardson, who said that Newton “was dressed perfectly” for their meeting, was blunt. “I said, ‘Do you have any tattoos?’” Richardson told Rose. “He said, ‘No, sir. I don’t have any.’ I said, ‘Do you have any piercings?’ He said, ‘No, sir. I don’t have any.’ I said, ‘We want to keep it that way.’ . . . .

“We want to keep no tattoos, no piercings, and I think you’ve got a very nice haircut.”

Many saw this as a violation, but Newton honored the request. Since Richardson’s departure we’ve seen a different Cam. He’s growing his hair out. He’s showing his personality on social media. He’s no longer the young quarterback who wants to make everyone else happy. He’s a grown man who cares about staying true to himself and his own happiness. That’s a good thing on and off the field.

Now the only question is, where’s the tattoo and what is it of? In the picture, Cam’s left hand and what appears to be his left ring finger is bandaged. Maybe he and longtime girlfriend, Kia, got matching ink. I don’t know. I’ll let the social media investigators figure that out. But what I do know is, tatted or not, the freedom to be authentically you is something that will only help Carolina’s QB1.